Macintosh OS 8 Human Interface Guidelines

This document describes the additions and changes to Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines related to the release of Mac OS 8. Specifically, it presents guidelines for taking advantage of the Mac OS platinum appearance and the Appearance Manager. This document does not replace Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines.

Apple Inc. (1997). Design>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface

Macintosh OS X: Aqua Human Interface Guidelines

This document, which covers features up to Mac OS X version 10.2, describes what you need to do to design your application for Aqua. Primarily intended for Carbon and Cocoa developers who want their applications to look right and behave correctly in Mac OS X, these guidelines provide examples of how to use Aqua interface elements. Java application developers will also find these guidelines useful.

Apple Inc. (2003). Design>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface

Magical Numbers: The Seven-Plus-or-Minus-Two Myth      

George Miller’s “magical number seven, plus or minus two” is poorly understood and, consequently, blindly applied to professional communication. As an example, I have heard speakers explicitly allow themselves up to seven items of up to seven words on each visual aid, in addition to the title. Any such slide would fail any real-life test of effectiveness, such as briefly showing the slide while going on talking, then asking the audience what was on it. Such misconceptions endure.

Doumont, Jean-luc. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2002). Articles>Human Computer Interaction

Make It Flow: Achieving the Optimal User Experience  

Contends that human factors professionals must look beyond usability and heuristics to maximize a product's appeal.

Fruhlinger, Joshua A. Intercom (2001). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Usability

Making the Physical Environment Interactive

Microsoft's most innovative product of the 1990s was Interactive Barney: a plush toy containing a computer that lets it interact with kids. When you squeeze Barney's toe, for example, he sings a song; when you cover his eyes, he plays peek-a-boo. Soon, many more physical objects may become interactive, and they're likely to contain much more broadly defined and subtle user interfaces than the primitive toe squeezing that Interactive Barney pioneered.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Human Computer Interaction

Minimizing Bias in Computer Systems

Computer punch card tallying systems pose serious problems for fair elections. In particular, under-educated groups are more likely not to understand how the computerized system works. In this workshop we were concerned with understanding bias in computer systems and developing methods to help minimize bias through the design process.

Friedman, Batya, Eric Brok, Susan King Roth and John Thomas. SIGCHI Bulletin (1996). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Accessibility

Modeling the Empowered User  

An STC-funded study of computer users in an R & D organization attempts to identify users who reflect a high degree of productive integration of computers into workplace tasks. The study reveals user stratification along the lines of low-strategic and high-strategic users: users who choose to use computers to accomplish information and communication-oriented tasks. The study attempts to confirm this stratification by indicating that users identified in this way also use computers to perform a higher frequency of information-related computer behaviors, such as use of email, electronic information transfer, archiving, and software learning. Identifying users in this way can help writers and documention designers by providing models of integrated computer use.

Barker, Thomas and Patricia Goubil-Gambrell. STC Proceedings (1996). Design>Human Computer Interaction>User Centered Design

Mutual Intercultural Perception: How Does It Affect Technical Communication? Some Data from China, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Italy     

Professional technical communicators increasingly find themselves in a negotiation situation where cultural differences have caused misperceptions or confusion concerning time (pausing, interrupting). This article overviews an intercultural perception experiment that investigated how individuals from different cultures perceive questioning and pausing/interrupting behavior in the same videotaped Dutch-Chinese negotiation. The study, which involved Chinese, Dutch, German, French, and Italian students of similar educational backgrounds, revealed that culture can affect how different individuals perceive and interpret the same situation. For example, the 'traditionally' polite Chinese appear to interrupt more often than many Western individuals might expect. And while both Chinese and Dutch observers thought the Dutch interrupted far more often than the Chinese, findings based on linguistic parameters for interrupting reveal it is the Chinese who interrupt more often.

Ulijn, Jan M. and Kirk R. St. Amant. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>International

My Human-Computer Interaction Bookshelf

An annotated bibliography of books in Human-Computer Interaction.

Lowgren, Jonas. Linkopings Universitet. Resources>Bibliographies>Human Computer Interaction

Narrative vs Control in the Online Story World

How much control should users be able to take over the system they are using? Within Human-Computer Interaction, the challenge is usually to give control of technology to users; be it through accessible design, or, more generally, by making paths clear and choices apparent.

Light, Ann. uiGarden (2005). Articles>Human Computer Interaction

No-One Looks at the Screen

One of the most fundamental factors in designing for screen-based media is: No-one likes looking at a computer screen.

Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>Human Computer Interaction>User Centered Design

Noncommand User Interfaces

Several new user interface technologies and interaction principles seem to define a new generation of user interfaces that will move off the flat screen and into the physical world to some extent. Many of these next-generation interfaces will not have the user control the computer through commands, but will have the computer adapt the dialogue to the user's needs based on its inferences from observing the user. This article defines twelve dimensions across which future user interfaces may differ from the canonical window systems of today: User focus, the computer's role, interface control, syntax, object visibility, interaction stream, bandwidth, tracking feedback, interface locus, user programming, and software packaging. Keywords: Agents, Animated icons, BITPICT, DWIM, Embedded help, Eye tracking, Generations of user interfaces, Gestural interfaces, Help systems, Home computing, Interactive fiction, Interface paradigms, Noncommand based user interfaces, Prototyping, Usability heuristics, Virtual realities, Wizard of Oz method.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1993). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface>Usability

Of Mice and iPods, or The Death of the Designer

Computing technologies are becoming so familiar it can feel as if they have always been here. It is strange to think that the mouse, for instance, was invented by Doug Englebart in the seventies. He must encounter a degree of incredulity when he mentions this to people. “You invented the mouse? Really? How nice. Did you also invent the pen?”

Blythe, Mark. uiGarden (2008). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Centered Design>Usability

OK-Cancel or Cancel-OK?

Should the OK button come before or after the Cancel button? Following platform conventions is more important than suboptimizing an individual dialog box.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2008). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface>Usability

Perspective: How Can Human Factors Education Meet Industry Needs?  

Today, industry is looking to developers (engineers and programmers) to do their own human factors.

Shapiro, Ronald G. HFES (1995). Careers>Human Computer Interaction

Physical, Cognitive, and Affective: A Three-part Framework for Information Design    

This article first explores limitations of the prevailing concept of document design. Next, it offers a definition of information design—a framework meant to broaden the popular perspective on design in our field. The article then describes in detail the three types of design activities involved in technical communication: physical design, cognitive design, and affective design. Last, this article suggests the strengths and limitations of this framework. Appendixes describe implications of this framework to the teaching of technical communication to majors in the field, to the practice of technical communication in industry, and to research in the field.

Carliner, Saul. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Information Design

Planet HCI

Planet HCI is a web aggregator of feeds from HCI-related blogs.

Planet HCI (2004). Resources>Directories>Human Computer Interaction>Blogs

The Post Disciplinary Revolution: Industrial Design and Human Factors—Heal Yourselves

The fault lies with the separation of powers. There are four legs to product development. Four equal legs are required for good product design, all sitting on the foundation of the business case.

Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2000). Design>Human Computer Interaction>Usability

Post-Cognitivist HCI: Second-Wave Theories    

Historically, the dominant paradigm in HCI, when it appeared as a field in early 80s, was information processing ('cognitivist') psychology. In recent decades, as the focus of research moved beyond information processing to include how the use of technology emerges in social, cultural and organizational contexts, a variety of conceptual frameworks have been proposed as candidate theoretical foundations for 'second-wave' HCI and CSCW. The purpose of this panel is to articulate similarities and differences between some of the leading 'post-cognitivist' theoretical perspectives: language/ action, activity theory, and distributed cognition.

Kaptelinin, Victor, Bonnie A. Nardi, Susanne Bodker, John M. Carroll, Jim Hollan, Edwin Hutchins and Terry Winograd. ACM SIGCHI (2003). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>History

Preparing for a Career in Human Factors/Ergonomics: A Resource Guide

A collection of articles and presentations about building a career in human factors.

HFES (2005). Careers>Human Computer Interaction

Presentation Shui

Have you ever been in a room that felt strangely uncomfortable? Most presenters have, making comments afterwards about a forebodingly long executive table, a sterile design that put a chill in the air or a frenetic disorganized feeling that seemed to bounce around the room during the talk. It's reactions like these that corporate room designers and architects seek to avoid, striving to use technology and interior design to create a professional yet welcoming atmosphere. That quest has opened the door to fresh ideas, including the Chinese art of feng shui.

Regenold, Stephen. Presentations (2002). Design>Human Computer Interaction>Presentations

Productivity and Multi-Screen Computer Displays  

One hundred eight university and non university personnel participated in a comparison of single monitor, multi-monitor and multi-monitor with Hydravision display configurations. Respondents edited slide shows, spreadsheets and text documents in a simulation of office work, using each of the display arrays. Performance measures, including task time, editing time, number of edits completed, and number of errors made and usability measures evaluating effectiveness, comfort, learning ease, time to productivity, quickness of recovery from mistakes, ease of task tracking, ability to maintain task focus and ease of movement among sources were combined into an overall evaluation of productivity. Multi-screens scored significantly higher on every measure.

Colvin, Janet, Nancy Tobler and James A. Anderson. Rocky Mountain Communication Review (2004). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>User Interface

Quick Tips for Finding a Human Factors/Ergonomics Job in Industry  

Despite ups and downs in the industrial job market, employment prospects can be outstanding for well-qualified candidates. Regardless of the state of the market, the tips in this brochure will help you improve your chances of success as an industry professional. Employers today have higher expectations for new hires than they did 5, 10, or 20 years ago. Candidates must understand specifics about the employer's industry, but they should also be able to see the big picture involved in a project and to know how to apply human factors principles, frameworks, and techniques. Candidates should have a record of accomplishments, even while in graduate school, such as publications, presentations, and leadership assignments. In all cases, leadership and communication abilities are crucial.

Young, Karen R. and Ronald G. Shapiro. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (2001). Careers>Human Computer Interaction>Ergonomics

R.I.P. WYSIWYG

Macintosh-style interaction design has reached its limits. A new paradigm, called results-oriented UI, might well be the way to empower users in the future.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>User Interface>Human Computer Interaction

Redefining Curriculum and Research Initiatives: The Human Computer Interaction Certificate Program, A Year Later  

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Graduate Certificate in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) celebrates its first birthday this spring. This program was the result of a joint university and industry partnership between RPI and IBM. Join the team as they discuss the HCI Certificate Program, a year in review.

Hans, David F., Roger A. Grice, Edward J. See and Robert Krull. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Human Computer Interaction